In two to three years when they remove the notch it'll be "innovative" - ha!
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The new notch is comically large, this is how it should be
- Thread starter tomtad
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I think it's an engineering issue (ie. including cost and packaging constraints) that has been rectified by a design choice. That we've been stuck on 720p has been reported to be due to the thinness of the casing in the upper bezel. Now this area is slightly thicker I believe, but the bezel is significantly reduced, w/ rounded corners and the notch due to these elements being part of Apple's design language, finally allowing the camera to be bumped up.
While I don't think it's aesthetically great, it does offer more utility beyond just the larger camera and thinner bezels due to having the menu bar pushed up and out of the main 16:10 region with those extra 74 pixels.
I wonder if it would be nice to be able to use the notch area for the dock? Yes icons would be small but it might work.
Have a Notch app that does this sort of thing. I mean, on the phone there's really nothing to work with area wise, but there's a lot of area here. The point as I see it is to creatively use this area now.
Also, I imagine you will have sensitive people who can't 'un-see' the notch. Sounds hard to believe, but after coming here.....
Have a Notch app that does this sort of thing. I mean, on the phone there's really nothing to work with area wise, but there's a lot of area here. The point as I see it is to creatively use this area now.
Also, I imagine you will have sensitive people who can't 'un-see' the notch. Sounds hard to believe, but after coming here.....
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Not on the front camera, they have been tiny for decades. You don't need to take high-quality photos with them, even less so on a Mac. Most people never use the camera on their MacBook Pro. I would be quite happy if it wasn't there at all. I would also be happy an extra couple of mm bezel on the top of the display. Having a chunk missing out of the edge of the screen is a little disappointing however.
You do realize that conference calling w/ Zoom/Teams is now a thing in a major way? That front camera in important to a ton of business users.
It's stuck on 720p for ages because of packaging issues in this area, to be upgraded to 1080p is a big deal.
Those users don't need the MacBook Pro, just a standard MacBook would be fine... or an iMac an iPad or iPhone. A $6000 computer with 58 cores seems a little excessive for Zoom calls.
Not a fan of the notch, and I even made a post or two prior to the announcement that I thought we were being trolled by the leakers. Obviously I was wrong. 
That said, the notch didn't stop me from dropping close to four grand on what's otherwise a pretty impressive update, so I'm pretty sure Apple isn't going to care what guys like I think!
That said, the notch didn't stop me from dropping close to four grand on what's otherwise a pretty impressive update, so I'm pretty sure Apple isn't going to care what guys like I think!
A work machine is a work machine, and some of us need the most powerful available. I'm an engineer. My company is not going to get me one machine to do my work and another for office apps, that's nutty. It also doesn't make much sense to put a lower spec camera in an upper spec machine and vice versa.
I do those things all the time. I do not care a tiny bit about 1080p for that, 720 is just fine. The notch though is gross. I‘d be ok with it if it were smaller; the top bar is now comically wide.
Too bad, other than the notch it‘d be the perfect laptop
Good for you - it's been a common complaint for ages now. I don't think a 720p camera would have worked either, it would have just allowed a slightly smaller notch.
Yes it looks huge and ugly. I guess Apple plans to fit a telescope into the notch down the road so we can all look at Mars.
Maybe Apple can hire Michael Dell for the top design position.
Maybe Apple can hire Michael Dell for the top design position.
If the reviews don't discover any other major flaws I'm probably going to have to buy it anyway, I don't have much option really as I'm long overdue an upgrade. I'm just disappointed at the poor design choices Apple have been making lately. It's not just the notch, every aspect of the design is worse than before. The curved edges make it look thicker. The black keyboard surround makes it look like a cheap PC. I've been waiting a long time for this and was going to get the top-spec model, but I think I'll make do with a cheaper version for now and wait a few more years until they remove the notch. Hopefully they will have an option for a permanent software bezel where the menu bar drops underneath it, so you don't have to deal with loosing your cursor, menu items etc. Unfortunately I think the bleed from the mini-led will make it visible no-matter what.
Yes I agree. The notch is ugly but it is certainly not a deal breaker -- as demonstrated by the iPhone. These new MBP are so far ahead of where they were a few years ago that an unsightly blemish should not really matter when considering the whole package.
My thoughts exactly. They’re designing the notch to be large enough now to accommodate Face ID sensors in the future.
I don't mind the notch - I'd take that over uneven bezels any day. What looks odd to me is the font size on the newly enlarged menu bar. They need to bring those menu item text fonts and icons up a notch (ba-dum-bump!) so that there is less space both above and below them. It just looks odd with the current presentation in the official photos.
Except that due to bandwidth constraints and compression, most everyone isn't going to get the full effect of that 1080p camera. And those that absolutely need 1080p or 4K are most likely using dedicated video equipment anyway.
This is a potentially dumb question, and if so I apologise and may God have mercy on my soul, but...........
The screen is described as 16.2inch. BUT, does the notch (and extra bezel above it) mean that when you watch 16:9 content (e.g. TV shows/YouTube) in full-screen, the actual image is going to be the same size (or even a little SMALLER) as on the old 16inch, so that the notch doesn't cut into the image?
Once again, if this is a dumb question I have my hammer here ready to send myself off this mortal coil in shame.
The screen is described as 16.2inch. BUT, does the notch (and extra bezel above it) mean that when you watch 16:9 content (e.g. TV shows/YouTube) in full-screen, the actual image is going to be the same size (or even a little SMALLER) as on the old 16inch, so that the notch doesn't cut into the image?
Once again, if this is a dumb question I have my hammer here ready to send myself off this mortal coil in shame.
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This has a widely requested feature specifically for this reason for years now. Argue away all you want, it it what it is.
There's a pro/con of the Dell's design.
Lower the display, more you need to look down at the laptop (little things matter over long term). But design-wise this is definitely more pleasing..
That notch is intentional and I think it serves good purpose: mass production for future generation with Face ID.
I don't think so because in this case users would understand clearly that they trade a little space for an improved feature. And in the meantime, current users would not need to give up that space in the menu bar, and hopefully the menu bar could keep its normal height instead of this increased height that makes look the menus ridiculous… 😞
It’s easy to mock something up when you don’t actually have to engineer it.
In this case, why not have a camera bump in the aluminium (behind the screen), like the iPhone for its rears camera? 😃